| Elizabeth de Scales |
| Because
of his son Thomas’s early death, Thomas the
7th Baron's heir was his daughter Elizabeth, then
24 and married to Sir Henry Bourchier, son of
Henry Bourchier Earl of Essex, but without issue
by the time he died. The barony also passed to
her. |
| By
1462 she was remarried to Anthony Woodville 2nd
Earl Rivers, son and heir of Richard Woodville
1st Earl Rivers, who was treasurer to Edward IV
and father of Elizabeth Woodville his Queen. The
following year Earl Rivers was summoned to
parliament under the title Lord Scales. |
| Elizabeth's
remarriage is dicussed in Shakespeare's Henry VI
Part 3, when Edward IV’s brothers George
Duke of Clarence and Richard Duke of Gloucester
complain to Edward about his bestowal of her on
the Queen's brother instead of one of them (see
the next page). |
| Elizabeth
died childless in 1473 marking 15 generations and
over 400 years of this branch of the family. |
| In
1473 Edward IV appointed Earl Rivers Governor of
the Prince of Wales' household and he went with
the Prince to Ludlow Castle. When Edward died in
1483, Rivers accompanied the Prince, now Edward
V, on the way back to London. However, they were
waylaid by the Duke of Gloucester, who imprisoned
Rivers and then had him beheaded at Pontefract
Castle as part of his path towards becoming King
Richard III. The peerage fell into abeyance and
the issue of inheritance of the vast estate was
left in dispute. |
| The
inheritance issue was resolved on the accession
of Henry VII in 1485 when it was determined that
the heirs were descendants of Robert 3rd Baron
Scales via his daughters Elizabeth and Margaret. |
| |
| The Heirs of Elizabeth de
Felbrigg née Scales |
| The
3rd Baron's daughter Elizabeth had married Roger
de Felbrigg (1316-1362) from a prominent Norfolk
family and her heirs were her great-granddaughter
Helena de Felbrigg (1399-1426), also heiress of
the Felbrigg family, and her husband William
Tyndale (1397-1426). Helena and William were the
great-grandparents of Sir William Tyndale
(1494-1536), protestant reformer and translator
of the Bible into English (and ultimately
martyred for it). |
| |
| The Heirs of Margaret Howard
née Scales |
| The
3rd Baron's daughter Margaret had married Robert
Howard (1336-1388) from another prominent Norfolk
family and her heirs were her great-granddaughter
Elizabeth Howard (1410-aft.1475), also heiress of
the Howard family, and her husband John de Vere
12th Earl of Oxford (1408-1462). |
| |
| The Howard-Plaise Line |
| Robert
and Margaret's son John Howard (d.1436) married
twice. His first wife was Margaret Plaise and
their granddaughter was the abovementioned
Elizabeth Howard. Elizabeth's husband John de
Vere was succeeded by the remaining Earls of
Oxford down to the 20th Earl (1627-1703), where
the line terminated with his daughter Diana.
Diana married Charles Beauclerk (1670-1726), 1st
Duke of St. Albans and illegitimate son of
Charles II and Nell Gwynne. The Dukes of St.
Albans live on with the 14th Duke Murray de Vere
Beauclerk (b.1939). |
| Among
the most distinguished of the line was Edward de
Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), an
Elizabethan courtier, playwright, poet, sportsman
and patron of writers, composers and acting
companies. He is most famous today as the
strongest alternative candidate proposed for the
authorship of Shakespeare's plays. |
| |
| The Howard-Tendering Line |
| John
Howard's second wife was Alice de Tendering and
their grandson was John Howard 1st Duke of
Norfolk (1420-1485). The Dukes of Norfolk are the
premier Dukes in the Peerage of England and this
was the third and last creation of the title. He
was a close friend and loyal supporter of Richard
III, who ganted him the title and with whom he
died at the Battle of Bosworth. His son Thomas
2nd Duke of Norfolk (1443-1524) also fought with
Richard at Bosworth, but survived into the Tudor
era. |
| Among
the 2nd Duke's nine children by his first wife
Elizabeth Tilney (bef.1447-1497 - he had another
eight by her cousin Agnes, his second wife), was
Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1473-1544),
the prominent politician in the time of Henry
VIII. His descendants were the Dukes of Norfolk
down to the current 18th Duke Edward
Fitzalan-Howard (b.1956). Among the other
children by the 2nd Duke's first marriage were
his son Edmund (d.1539) and his daughter
Elizabeth (1480-1538). Elizabeth married Thomas
Boleyn 1st Earl of Wiltshire (1477-1539) and one
of their children was Anne Boleyn (c.1507-1536),
2nd wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I.
Edmund's first wife was Jocasta Culpeper
(1480-1531) and one of their children was
Catherine Howard (1521-1542), 5th wife of Henry
VIII. The rest, as they say, is history. |
| |
| The Scales Name Today |
| Although
the Scales name certainly survived in cadet lines
of the descendants of Hardwin de Scalers, their
genealogy has disappeared from the official
historical record. It is unlikely that any of
them had significant wealth or influence. |
